Wheat jumps over 2% on Black Sea port attacks, set for weekly decline
SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat jumped more than 2% on Friday with attacks near a key Russian grain port in the Black Sea region triggering fresh concerns over global grain supplies, although the market is set for a weekly decline.
Corn and soybeans rose with forecasts for cool and wet weather conditions in the U.S. Midwest limiting upside potential in prices.
Ukrainian sea drones attacked a Russian navy base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a major hub for Russian exports, early on Friday and were destroyed by Russian warships, Russia’s defence ministry said.
The attack prompted the Novorossiysk port to temporarily halt all ship movement, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.
“Novorossiysk is a big sea port for grain shipments and attacks could disrupt grain shipments,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney.
‘The risk to supplies is very real.”
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 2.2% to $6.40-1/2 a bushel, as of 0424 GMT. Corn was up 0.9% at $4.97-3/4 a bushel and soybeans added 0.9% to $13.36-3/4 a bushel.
For the week, corn is down 6%, soybeans have given up more than 3% and wheat has lost almost 9%.
Rains in parts of the U.S. Midwest during the crucial crop development phase are likely to improve yields.
Private sales of 134,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China, reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday morning, renewed optimism around export demand.
The flash sale adds to recent export activity. The USDA reported soybean export sales for the week ended July 27 at 2.721 million metric tons, near the high-end of trade expectations.
Wheat export sales of 421,300 metric tons were in line with expectations, while 456,400 metric tons of corn neared the low-end of predictions.
Russia continues to export wheat through the Black Sea, adding pressure on prices.
The United States would continue to do “whatever is necessary” to ensure Russia can freely export food if there was a revival of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.
Warm, dry weather over the last week allowed Argentine farmers to resume their wheat planting in previously muddied fields in the south of the country’s core agricultural area, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said Thursday in its weekly crop report.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean and soymeal futures contracts on Thursday and net sellers of wheat, corn and soyoil futures contracts, traders said. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Janane Venkatraman)
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